Ask a Tradesman

Need to repaint the black plinth around the bottom of the exterior walls of my bungalow as the paint has begun to lift and flake off.

What is the best paint to use, masonary or just bitumen paint? and once we have removed all the loose material, will it require priming and sealing prior to painting. any ideas???

Asked by: tel_58
18th Apr 2011

8 Answers

Best Answer

If you remove all the loose paint and find your back to bare brick or render then you'll need to apply a coat of stabalizing solution to it.

dulux produce 2 types of masonary paint, one being the ordinary weathershield which is waterbased, the other is storm shield and is oil based... the storm shield would be best in my view being at the bottom of the house.

After removing all the loose and flaking material ( a jet wash would help following scraping) coat the area with stableising primer (from a decorating trade centre) and then either 2 coats of masonry paint or bitchumen paint.

The key to this situation is preparation. The loose paint needs to be removed .Once the preparation is complete then a coat off oil based primer or undercoat can be applied to prevent flacking off in the future. Dark grey or black undercoat (it usually come as dark grey however if the shop can mix paint then ask for black as i find the final coat covers better). Then a final coat of masonry paint or and oil based eggshell or gloss finish. For any exterior work i find oil based paints to be far better than water based as they last a lot longer.

You need to remove all loose and flaking material, then apply a coat of stabilising solution. (there are 2 types water and oil based and as of the time of writing I find them equal products, the water based obviously being easier to apply and clean from brushes.) Then fill where needed and apply 2 coats of dulux trade masonry paint.